Gunmetal
by CerealK
Summary: Uchiha Sasuke met the other half of his soul on a battlefield that neither of them were going to walk away from. Or so they thought. Love, it seems, can survive centuries, impossibilities- even death. Happy NaruSasu Day! For Jelp.


**Title: Gunmetal**

**Pairing**: NaruSasu

**Rating**: Seriously? You are seriously asking _me_ this? -_- What do YOU think genius? (M _duh_)

**Disclaimer**: Naruto? Nope, don't own it. Don't sue me. 'Kenji' belongs to Fort Minor as well. I'm a poor university student with an overactive imagination- that's all. I also spend too much time reading History texts. *mumbles* I need a life. _

**Dedication**: To **Jelp**. My little historian. 8D Long (LOOONG) overdue though it might be. Also: FOR NARU SASU DAY 2010 WOOT WOOT. *dances nekked* 8D

**Beta**: For the parts that were beta'd -The amazing **Master** **Of** **The** **Rebels. ** For all the rest- me myself and my overactive imagination. I'm pretty sure mistakes are in there. Be patient.

**Warnings**: Historical fic. World War II. Listen carefully now: **this is NOWHERE NEAR my usual** **crack**. There is mature content (as usual) and (not as usual) blatant racism used as a **plot** **device**: please note that I do **NOT** support any form of social classification/construction _whatsoever_. Racism is dumb, but necessary for this period. There is war, violence (but not gore), imprisonment, hatred, bombs, bombed places and indiscriminate bomb_ers_. **You have been warned. **Do **NOT** come crying to me about your disfigured sensibilities after you read this. If you don't know these things have happened then I suggest you get your head out of your ass; immediately. _ Also warnings for some kind of reincarnation … kinda ...whatever. _

**Warnings Part Deux: **Though I did research this story to the details I freely admit that I took liberal artistic license with everything that happens here. I have bent facts, twisted history and manipulated time and space to suit my own dastardly ends…I am not repentant. Deal with it. No insult or offense is meant to anyone. **At all**.

**Warnings the Third:** Also- do NOT expect to jump right into porn. Don't fret though- THERE WILL BE PORN! (I mean come on people, seriously- this is me we're talking about _) Just please, do the fic justice- don't rush through it searching for sex- let it take you there. S'all I'm asking.

**Inside My Head**: It seems paltry, pathetic and somewhat self sabotaging to explain the frame of mind I was in while writing this. This story was in the incipient stages for _months_; growing, unmolested, at the back of my mind as I allow all ideas to do before reaching out to reap the whole fruit. It is Bob Marley's birthday today (well, it was when I started this fic which was in _February_ _) I had just finished watching the biography of Malcom X and above all- listened to the soundtrack of this story; Fort Minor's '_Kenji'_. The motion darkened and overflowed and here is the product. '_Kenji'_ became the theme song for this piece and it is my recommendation that you to listen to it.

* * *

Let me tell you a story in the form of a dream,**  
**I don't know why I have to tell it, but I know what it means,**  
**Close your eyes, just picture the scene,**  
**As I paint it for you, it was World War II,**  
**When this man named Kenji woke up,**  
**Ken was not a soldier,**  
**He was just a man, with a family, who owned a store in LA,**  
**That day, he crawled out of bed like he always did,**  
**Bacon and eggs with wife and kids,**  
**He lived on the second floor of a little store he ran,**  
**He moved to LA from Japan,**  
**…They called him 'Immigrant,'

-_'Kenji'_ by Fort Minor

* * *

History said that the world descended into madness on September 1, 1939.

But that was a lie.

The world was mad long before that. Before Herr Hitler mobilized a massive into a peaceful country while preaching blond supremacy and mowing down those who failed to meet his level of perfection.

The world was mad when Mussolini sermonized for a Holy Roman Empire and sanity had long gone when China and Japan, sons of the same father, began a blood feud over the assumptions of control.

The world was absolutely insane when Sasuke's father, out of stark fear, uprooted his two young sons and pregnant wife from a war torn Kyoto and fled to a distant shore. In those days the ship crossing to America was brutal. The boat was an ex-whaling vessel; a desperate vehicle for freedom cannibalized from old parts that were red-black with rust and slick with crude oil.

Ten year old Sasuke slept in the cramped cargo hold huddled to a cold eyed Itachi and sharing stale oxygen with rats and the recycled breath of one hundred and fifty hollow eyed immigrants who, for thirteen days, lived in the bowels of a sub human vessel. In the middle of black grey seas 'America' was a fantasy too great to imagine; a promised land that his mother spoke of while lying exhausted on the cot in an empty pantry-cum-bedroom. America…It was as unreal and incomprehensible as heaven and nirvana and the land of the eternal sun that the old priests used to talk about back home at the Shinto temple. But that was where they were headed.

Three days from port a storm swelled from the deep and hit the ship like a fierce and wild thing. Soaked and shivering Sasuke clung to blankets that were all the security he had in this rotten place. Five Uchihas entered that storm- but only four came out of it and his parents never lived the miscarriage down. It was a bitter blood price to pay for entrance into freedom.

In actuality America was a rocky shore and an algae ridden wooden gangplank shrouded in soup thick fog. The 'Freedom Land' was a two bedroom flat above an empty general store in a place called Los Angeles.

Everything was backwards here in this dream world; the language, the names…even the seating at the dinner table. The yellow haired, blue eyed beings in particular absolutely _fascinated_ Sasuke. He'd never seen people with that shade of colouring before. Apparently many of the blond beings- specifically the females- had never seen anything like him either, because the starched crinoline girls kept giggling and whispering behind their mommas skirts whenever he was in the shop with his own mama.

Their home was bare and small- but it was theirs, and they made the most of it for the years that followed. His mom sewed and sang and baked warm life into the hard wood and peeling plaster. She declined English verbs into Japanese while she sang, and stitched him winter clothes while she sang, and made Itachi dango while she sang. Slowly the bare surfaces and harsh lines softened under the power that was 'mother' into a warm, welcoming home.

And then it was 1941 and in cold midwinter the world ended.

Sasuke was thirteen when Pearl Harbor was bombed.

The media spared them nothing; the papers were flooded with pictures of men dying and screaming. It was madness; brutal, screaming, red, madness. Never had he seen such death; not even back in Kyoto when the Japanese military had forced all the peasants in their prefecture to work under grey skies as they suffered in bleak inhumanity.

And suddenly the looks changed. The giggling girls didn't come to the shop anymore; they were herded away by wiry mothers who looked at him with hard eyes. Sasuke couldn't understand the poisonous stares being thrown at him from the football players at school that he'd never spoken to. He didn't understand why his mother never went back to church or why his father sometimes came home with torn clothes.

But when President Roosevelt signed away their lives in February he understood.

It was three a.m. when strange men came banging on the door. They were tall, dressed in black, and as fearsome as the Naga that he half remembered from old fairy tales. They struck his father and Itachi to the floor and ordered his mother to pack their belongings. 'Taking a trip' they said. And they did; right into the abyss.

Manzanar was red hell.

It was barren; a nothing place; a dry dustbowl barred and locked in with barbed wire and eight watchtowers equipped with searchlights and machine guns pointed inward at the prisoners. The land was old, aged like bedrock stones, with a dust that blew in from the scorching plains and settled over everything like a pre-emptive burial. Sasuke sometimes fancied that he could feel the mourning of the native Indians who had died there, chased off their own land by sword wielding conquerors.

Time passed in the prison town and Sasuke became as hard and bitter as the stale blood that marred his clothes whenever his condescending attitude got him struck.

_Fuck_ what the Americans said. Fuck their so called humanity and their laws about civil rights. 'Internment camp' was nothing but a pretty name which covered up all the hatred and disgust. At least Hitler was honest enough to call his slavery camps 'concentration'.

Prisoners of war in their own damn country and the government had the fucking balls to use euphemisms. Sasuke became a man in Manzanar. His sixteenth birthday passed like a death rattle.

* * *

"Sasuke," Fugaku warned softly. "Don't. You will get struck- _again_."

The young Uchiha ignored his father and glared hatefully at the big boned bastard in army fatigues who had just struck Neji to the ground. What the fuck had Neji done to deserve that? Sure he may have been a pompous asshole but he never mouthed off. Ever. He didn't deem the soldiers as anything worth speaking to.

"_I fucking hate these animals."_ The youngest Uchiha growled in his native tongue. His body was vibrating with repressed anger and the need for revenge. He couldn't understand this rage sometimes. His body felt full up to bursting and very painful; stretching at the seams of his sanity until it felt like he was going to kill someone. Sasuke resembled nothing like who he had once been. The innocent child was long dead; probably buried with Old Man Sarutobi who'd mysteriously passed two years ago.

Itachi looked up from where he was finishing the inventory of the food they had to generate for themselves. His elder brother was brilliant, and at twenty he was already responsible for the records they had to keep of anything they managed to produce.

"Mother will not appreciate it if you come home bloody." He stated simply, before going back to his work.

Fucking prick. Using reverse psychology on him like that. Why the fuck was Itachi so good at mind games anyway?

In the dreary night of August 1944 his life changed again.

Through the cloth partitions of the 'rooms' Sasuke heard his parents whispering.

"..rumors of food rations." His father mumbled. "Some say they're going to deliberately kill us all before the war ends."

His mother's reply- what he could hear of it- was soft but sharp. "Nonsense…survived through this much before. What will they do? Line us up like animals and put bullets to our heads?"

His father did not answer, but Sasuke heard the implied 'yes' hanging in the air like an echo of a bomb siren.

The rumors were false. Sasuke knew they were. In places like this, stank and reeking with human fear, wild accusations about the beasts holding them were always bandied about. Just last month there had been whispers about soldiers poisoning the wells. The hearsay was fleeting, but every other month they reared regenerated heads like immortal hydras, bringing waves of panic and fear with them.

Sasuke was tired of it; existing in constant fear was no way to live.

He knew the answer; it stared him in the face every time he walked by the notice board in the camp square. But his mother would _kill_ him.

The next morning before he headed off- supposedly to the farm ground but really to the overseer's office- Itachi had stared at him with piercing eyes.

"You are going to do something foolish." He stated absently. Sasuke glared back.

"Since when is sowing seeds foolish?"

Itachi's lips twitched and a glimmer of respect flickered through his coal dark eyes. "Hn."

Mikoto had screamed and raged long into the night but Sasuke's mind was made up. If he could ensure his family's freedom by joining the army, then so be it. He was a second son anyway; it was his historical role. Itachi was the heir…the more important one…the genius. He would be great someday. Sasuke would give his life to ensure that.

His father was quiet, but his lips were tight in anger. The young Uchiha pretended to not see his displeasure and didn't look back to the prison town –not even once- as the open backed truck drove him, and sixteen other young men, to the army barracks.

* * *

He didn't recall much of the journey to Mississippi. It all seemed like a blur of blank faces, woodland and railroad tracks. This place was as wet as Manzanar was dry and Sasuke glared down acidly at the sloppy, wet mud of the land as it climbed up his boots and stained his pants black.

The warden's office was a ways, and Sasuke huddled into a thin coat as they were lead across the monochrome barrack grounds which reeked of coal dust and wood smoke.

"Mostly Nisei here." A low voice drawled behind him, and out of the corner of his eye Sasuke observed a boy, reed thin and hunched over, with a sloppy ponytail and half lidded eyes. He'd gotten unto the train when another van with other volunteers from other camps had met them some ways a back.

He caught Sasuke staring and, with a jolt, Sasuke realized that there was knife edge intelligence buried within that gaze.

"But not you." The boy stated bluntly. "You were born in Japan, weren't you?"

"…Hn."

A beat. Other cold, shivering recruits lined up on either side of both boys who were busy sizing each other up.

"Me too." The other boy added, hiking up his jacket and huddling into the warmth. "Don't tell them that. They don't like Issei much. The ones born here feel like they have something to prove… to make sure everyone knows that they're American." For a split second, sharp eyes bore into his being like a scalpel before turning back to face the log cabin.

"Troublesome." He muttered.

"Yeah," a new, gruff voice groused from Sasuke's other side; "Well I hear these overseer freaks get off on some sick shit. My cousin tells me they sneak into your bed at night and slather you in sour cream and rape your ass."

…A pause…

Sasuke turned stiffly to face the body beside hm. The other male was a jumpy bastard; his wild eyes stared shiftily at everything that moved from beneath a mop of mad, brown hair and above what looked like triangular, red war pain marks on his cheeks. He was gripping his knapsack tightly.

"Oh yeah, well I got sumthin' for 'em fuckers. They ain't getting none of _this_ sweet Issei ass, I can promise ya that!"

Incredulous, Sasuke wondered if they allowed the mentally insane into the barracks as well.

"Listen up Recruits!" Ah, the Colonel had finally appeared. He was a hulking wall of a man; built like a brick shit house, with arms like spare engines and a uniform that did little to hide it. His face was square and mean and there was utterly unabashed disdain and scorn boiling in Prussian blue eyes as he surveyed the motley crew of men standing, frozen, in the muck.

"I am Colonel Robards and this hellhole is now your home sweet home until I say so." The man's eyes glinted with fierce purpose and barely restrained mania. "You are here to take upon yourselves the mantle of _protector_. To _honestly_ and _willfully_ serve your country and government at the expense of all others… and to recapture what little honour you had in the first place."

Sasuke heard the mentally mad one beside him growl under his breath, and mutter something like, "And may your mother fuck pigs, you son a bitch." The Uchiha smirked and allowed that perhaps the tattooed boy wasn't _completely_ retarded.

The Colonel continued speaking: "From here on in you are, officially, members of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team…Be warned- you're the unknowns here. You're the grunts, the bottom of the refuse pit- the shapeless, spineless maggots that this great country had tasked me to turn into something meaningful. Rest assured, your days will be long and your nights will be bitter. You have no respect and you will _get_ none until you earn it. Individuality has no place here- you will be trained mercilessly, run ragged, broken and smelted together into a team like iron links and you will _not_ complain. In the borders of this world I am Law, Judge, Jury, Executioner and the closest thing to god your undisciplined minds will ever comprehend."

The yard was silent and what little light there was in the gray day sank even further into the wet earth. The place smelt of iron and gunpowder, of unwashed sweat and the stench of human labour broken into a unified beast of force and purpose. The musky odor of the earth was churned by the man's rawhide boots- the size of small logs- as he stepped down to their level and began to prowl down the lines. His voice dropped into a sibilant growl that promised pain and bias.

"In all honesty I don't want you here. I don't trust you, I don't sympathize with you and I sure as hell don't _like_ you. Were it up to me I'd ship you all back to the country you came from."

Out of the corner of his eye Sasuke saw the groups of men that had been identified as Nisei straighten up and square their shoulders, determined to prove that they were in the country they belonged. Sasuke sneered in disgust.

"But this is how the powers that be say it's going to go down. My part is to make you mission ready and more than cannon fodder. As soon as you are dismissed you will report to the General Cabin to be outfitted. You will receive bunk assignments, linens and fatigues. After four weeks of assessment you will be grouped into cells and specializations. Those who show even a modicum of talent may actually rise in the ranks…I wouldn't hold my breath though." The man snarled nastily. "Cali starts at Oh Five Hundred tomorrow- and your superior officer will **not** be holding your hands through it ladies. I suggest you prepare yourselves. Dismissed!"

Sasuke followed the cold, shivering queue to the General Cabin and received his meager belongings. He'd been assigned to Leaf Cabin; a long, low ceilinged, mass dormitory that housed about thirty recruits. The pale, intelligent boy that had warned him about the Nisei was right beside him. They both stared at each other for a moment before the other flopped- bag and all- unto his mass of rusty hinges and hideous brown sheets.

"Troublesome."

"Yeah," Sasuke smirked, "you said that before." The boy grunted.

"You got a name wise ass?" he asked without opening his eyes.

"It is customary," Sasuke stated softly "to give your own name before asking that of another."

The other boy levered himself up into a slouch and allowed his sharp eyes to wander over the Uchiha's form, slowly taking and storing every detail. The gaze wasn't judging per se…merely…cautious. Suddenly the lazy youth smirked. "Nara Shikamaru, pleased to meet you."

Sasuke inwardly grinned at the Japanese structure to the name presentation. "Uchiha Sasuke, likewise."

Shikamaru snorted. "You look like a trouble maker Uchiha. You got that… look in your eye.

"And you look like a lazy bum, but you don't hear me calling you names." Sasuke rejoined with a tiny smirk.

Shikamaru- or Shika as he would later be referred to- sighed. "You know what- I got a feeling that things aren't gonna be dull with you around. You like being the belle of the ball Uchiha?"

Sasuke surveyed the darkening room and listened to the soft susurrations of men quietly making acquaintances and forming tentative bonds. There was an air of sad resignation to the place- a quiet defeat that had started to seep in ever since that bastard Robards had gone off at the guns about how worthless they were. There was a grayness creeping over the psyche of the inhabitants- a lack of life that pissed Sasuke off to his bones.

Shikamaru was staring impassively- and perhaps slightly amused- at him from one shrewd brown eye, just _waiting_ to be proven correct. Sasuke grinned mercilessly.

"What can I say- I was born for the spotlight."

* * *

Merely thirteen days later Sasuke had the dubious honour of being poisonously hated by every single superior officer who had the misfortune to try and cow the Uchiha. Never _once_ did he bow to the snide remarks, the hissed curses or the outright slurs and Sasuke would gouge out his own eyes before he become one of the simpering, spineless men that sucked up to these bastards and denied their heritage in order to curry favour.

He was an Uchiha; he had pride, honour and familial heritage centuries old to give reverence to. His spine was always ramrod straight, his gaze was always dark and superior. He shouldered the burden he had taken upon himself with a core of inner iron and will of diamond. Sasuke never wavered, and never held back. He pushed harder than the superiors pushed him, he strove- with a single minded determination- to give more and achieve more- to surpass the narrow boundaries that the smug bastards set for him.

When doing pushups in Calisthenics and Robards slammed his heavy booted foot into Sasuke's his back because he claimed that the recruit wasn't pushing- the Uchiha simply smirked and did his pushups one handed. Upon becoming used to the senior officials sneaking into the barracks to sabotage his clothes- Sasuke took to sleeping in full uniform. When the powers that be expected them to master a new technique in a week, Sasuke perfected it in three days. The hand to hand combat demonstration-cum-grunge match between him and a major, where Sasuke had solidly trounced the man into the dust, was quickly becoming legend in the camp.

Shikamaru called him crazy- Sasuke called it pride. Until his spine gave out, Sasuke would stand against the bullshit that was thrown against him daily. From struggling through kamikaze runs at dawn to the acrid tar smoke of the weapons field at noon to the fireflies and inky darkness of the Mississippi sky at night- Sasuke held out.

And…it paid off.

It had been Shika who had pointed it out to his notice first, but then again, Sasuke was getting used to the Nara boy noticing things much more quickly. The friendship between both Issei had strengthened into a bond that Sasuke had not expected nor fully come to terms with.

"They stand straighter when you walk by." The Nara had said softly one afternoon at Mess. Sasuke raised an incredulous brow and succinctly asked him what the fuck he was talking about. Shikamaru nodded his messy head to a group of young males, around twenty something, who were a bit ahead of them

"Watch." Shika muttered.

And Sasuke did. The very second they-he- came within ten feet of the group of men, every single one of them sat a bit straighter and lifted their chins. Sasuke almost dropped his plate.

Shikamaru smirked.

"Why do they do that?" The Uchiha muttered to himself as they found their seats at the furthest log bench to the right.

"Seriously?" Shikamaru asked. "You really don't know?"

Sasuke just stared at him.

The skinny boy sighed. "They respect you Uchiha. Do you _not_ see the shit you pull? You're the only one in camp who camp who defies Robards's crap like that. You're an icon to some…and you make others feel ashamed."

"…What?" Sasuke furrowed his brows. "That's ridiculous. I don't set out to be anything like what you're making me out to be."

"_Exactly_…you've not heard what they call you either, have you?"

"Enlighten me." The annoyed Uchiha groused.

Shikamaru speared a piece of grey meat and smiled. "Fearless. They call you '_Fearless'_."

* * *

And so it went. Day after day after _god_ _forsaken_ day. It was early October 1944 now and news of the war was constant and encouraging. It seemed the Allies were succeeding in driving the Axis back in Europe, but the powers that be weren't content. If the rumors were anything to go by then this section of the 442nd regiment would still be shipping out soon.

And they were right. One morning Robards informed them that they were-in fact- going to war but their unit assignments were on hold because a new group of soldiers, recruited from Hawaii, would be joining them.

The respect that Sasuke had around camp had grown to proportions that the Uchiha was starting to believe were ridiculous. Men twice his age were starting to nod to him when he passed by. During the rare times when Sasuke spoke out in Barrack meetings there was absolute silence from the rest of soldiers. Whenever Sasuke trained with Shikamaru there was always a gathering of watchers eager to learn. Whenever Sasuke defied authority and ended up in Solitary there was always a recruit who snuck him food under his fatigues. Despite Shikamaru's warnings to the contrary, Sasuke had made it quite clear that he was Issei and that though he lived in America he wasn't in this fucking war for any form of Nationalistic ideals. His service guaranteed his family's honour and that was it. Kowtowing to demands of a nation that he held no particular love for was nowhere on Sasuke's agenda.

Needless to say, he wasn't very popular among the Nisei. Soldiers like Ebisu, Genma and Mizuki hated the piss out of him. Doctors like Iruka couldn't fathom him and overseers like Robards and Baki would have willfully killed him in cold blood.

But Sasuke was a leader. An icon- he ate slept and breathed for the improvement of his skills. He had earned his respect- even if only grudgingly- and he guarded it with his life.

And then- barely a week later when the Islander soldiers came to the camp- Sasuke's life turned in a direction he hadn't known existed much more seen coming.

Uzumaki Naruto was a primal lightning storm.

The noise the islanders made coming into the camp made Sasuke feel homicidal. Yells and shouts heralded the entrance of seventy men who seemed to make it their mission to make as much racket unloading the trucks as possible. Sasuke had just woken up from another of those dreams that had taken to disturbing him these days. Those clouded, spectacular dreams that made him sit up in bed, gasping and his penis hard. Shikamaru had laughed himself sick the morning he had found Sasuke desperately trying to hide the wet spot on his pajamas and Sasuke had punched him in the head for his subtlety.

Last night had been especially vicious; tremors still wracked his body from memories of hands and lips and sweet fire deep in his belly. His subconscious had tortured him for what seemed like hours and he'd woken up for Cali exhausted, furious and unsated.

And now these fucking islanders were just working his last good nerve.

They'd gone to meet the interlopers in the mess hall as per Robards's barked orders and, upon seeing the line of men, the first thing that grabbed Sasuke's attention was a shock of the most luminous blond hair the Uchiha had ever seen. Just like when he was a child, Sasuke was absolutely fascinated by blonds. The second thing which came to Sasuke's mind however was-

"What the _fuck_ are they feeding him?"

The neon blond was a foot and a half taller than everybody else, with corded arms and a loud mouth that matched his hair. Even halfway across the room and huddled into his little corner Sasuke learned the blond's name- Naruto Uzumaki- and he promptly dubbed him as a muscle bound fool without enough brains to fill a rifle barrel- attention stealing hair be damned.

"You shouldn't judge people like that." Shikamaru cautioned.

Pissed, Sasuke just grunted.

The loud blond and the mad, jumpy, tattooed boy from before seemed to have now discovered each other - their crass, brash voices were scraping against Sasuke's ears. In the seconds before the Colonel came in Sasuke managed to grab sight of the blond's eyes. They were _arctic_ blue, fierce and piercing like cold northern winds but seemed as deep as the tropic oceans that he came from. It seemed that he-

"Christ Uchiha, pay attention." Shikamaru hissed. "We have a three day wilderness surnvival run to do starting tonight."

"What?" Sasuke queried blankly, eyes still quiet stuck on the blond giant.

Shikamaru shook his head. "They've set an obstacle course in mountains. We have to form groups and run it over a three day period in order to get to a specific point on the inside. I've heard about this section of the woods- the seniors call it 'The Forest of Death'."

"A little dramatic, don't you think?" Sasuke muttered as they made their way back into the bunkhouse to pack.

Shika sighed and scratched an ear. "They say there are fifty foot snakes in there, blood sucking leeches in the trees too. Old, forgotten traps set by past soldiers scatter the place so you have to be alert."

Sasuke just eyed him. "Didn't you say groups of four? Well who are we-"

"—TEBAYO! Dude, your camp is sweet!"

Sasuke's eyes twitched. "Fuck no. Just fuck no."

Shikamaru grimaced. "Yes actually."

Naruto was standing there at the doorway, his irritating presence just making Sasuke want to slam his stupid blond head into a wall.

"Ohana man! You must be Sasuke- Mutt-face here told me a lot about you! He says you're the boss of this place- well you better get ready for some competition cause I'm gonna give it all I got! I mean back home, we had these awesome mountain trails that took you way out into the boonies for days! And there were snakes the size of-"

'_He's a child'_ Sasuke realized. "Hn. Whatever dobe. Just don't get in my way."

Naruto squawked, his big blue eyes incredulous. "Oi! Don't insult me in Japanese Teme!"

Shikamaru's eyebrow quirked "You seem to be doing just fine in retaliating. Your parents are Japanese aren't they."

"Uh huh." Naruto replied. "Born and raised in Hawaii though."

"Let's go." Sasuke grated, cutting the bonding scene in half. He wouldn't let this empty headed islander screw up all that he had worked so hard to accomplish.

* * *

The survival run was made to resemble a drop off of secret documentation type mission. Their cell, Number 7, was given a Heaven scroll, a map and three days to get to a point in the middle of the mountain range. They covered good ground on the first day and Sasuke managed to drift off asleep to Naruto's deep voice telling stories about old Hawaiian gods and the perfect surf.

His sleep was torture though. The phantom kisses were back, hotter and more insistent this time. It seemed that hands, hard, capable and –most disturbingly- seemingly _male_, were pressing him down, caressing his flesh and grasping the flush hardness between his legs. Kisses were sucked into his skin, his hair was tugged, his legs opened and spread wide. Blue eyes gazed deep into his and-

Sasuke sat bolt upright, his eyes wide. What-the-fuck?

Blue ey- blue e- he couldn't even bring himself to think it. Pissed, the Uchiha loped out of bed and began to furiously practice his katas. Fuck this, he was a soldier, he had no time for this silly teenage life crisis right now.

In those long hours trudging mercilessly up a spine of hills called 'The Backbreak', Sasuke learned more about the blond that he cared to know since Naruto wouldn't stop jabbering. It pissed him off that he was becoming fond of the idiots way of viewing life, his youthful exuberance and the stunningly deep insights he would sometimes have. It pissed him off even more that despite his self castigation Sasuke found his dark eyes roaming over the blond's tall muscled form. He was beautiful, that was for damn sure- strong features and wide eyes which kind of fucked with the idea that he was Asian in heritage. Sasuke was insanely curious about the six deep brown scars which marred his face and was surprised to hear that he'd been born that way. Apparently, his people had taken it as a sign that he was blessed by the Wild Gods of their island.

Naruto's ass was a beautiful shape of round too and Sasuke felt like punching himself in the eye every time his gaze strayed to the tight shift and flex before him. Fucking Shikamaru just kept chuckling knowingly behind him and Sasuke desperately wanted to kill the Nara.

And then, as they began crossing a small valley, it happened in an instant. Sasuke saw the glint of metal long before Naruto did and the Uchiha- without thinking- had flung himself into the blond, knocking him down and out of the way before the booby trap released a barrage of sharpened needles- right into Sasuke's back.

The pain was _insane_ and the young Uchiha threw back his head and screamed so loud that it echoed along the hilltops. Frantic scrabbling and a blur of faces later and Sasuke found himself face down in the ground, Naruto's hard arms wrapped around him as Shikamaru carefully extracted the needles.

Naruto was blabbering, his beautiful eyes wide, panic and awe on his face.

"Why, why would you do that?" he asked, staring Sasuke deep in the eyes, searching for a reason.

Sasuke was blank. Shikamaru was careful but the pain was ricocheting along his body like electric waves. In the end- he told the truth. "I don't know dobe….my body just moved."

Kiba was acting weird and Sasuke knew it. For one thing, he always wore that fucking fur coat, even when he was sweating like a stuck pig and dog tired from the hike he never stripped it off. They were about half a day away from the booby-trapped place that Shikamaru said was named 'Haku's Hill' and the Uchiha couldn't believe that he hadn't seen it before.

The odd shuffle, the puffy belly that couldn't possibly belong to Kiba's lean frame, the weird snuffling, whimpering sound that seemed to come out of nowhere….

"What the fuck are you hiding, Inuzuka?" He grated out still sore from the pain and in no mood for games. Naruto had been pissing him off lately too- what with his over attentiveness, his insistence of guarding the Uchiha like a bodyguard and his general loud personality that made Sasuke almost regret saving him. Almost.

A beat.

Blushing and apprehensive Kiba unzipped his jacket to reveal-

"A fucking puppy?" Sasuke asked incredulous, eye twitching.

Both the white mutt – who looked an astonishingly amount like his owner- and said owner growled in tandem.

"Akamaru is a fierce ass-kickin' warrior dog, damn you! Not a puppy!"

Sasuke's lips thinned. "You do know that that's not allowed, right? Was this the 'something' that you said you had in store for anybody who tried to mess with you?"

Kiba had the decency to look ashamed. "I couldn't leave him at home man- he'd just been born…and he's mine, ya know. I take good care of him- I swear. You won't tell on me will ya?"

All eyes in the small clearing looked at him and Sasuke felt like cursing. "Fine, just don't get caught. I won't tell."

Kiba's whole scruffy face brightened and the puppy in his lap launched himself at Sasuke, his small wet tongue seemingly everywhere.

"Gah!" Sasuke yelled, immediately sorry for his promise. "I take it back. Get this mutt off me before I make him a fur coat!"

Friendship, it seemed, was thicker than blood and Sasuke would never regret the day he kept Akamaru a secret. Especially now- when he was drowning.

They had constructed a makeshift bridge – which Naruto (the idiot) promptly dubbed 'Naruto's Bridge'-across this river, the likes of which Sasuke couldn't believe was in the mountains. It was wide, deep and rushing down a fall of jagged rocks as it tore though the hillside. The bridge had been built and Naruto had crossed first, followed by Shikamaru and a good portion of their packs, then Kiba (who had shut his eyes and nearly bawled like a baby) and finally, Sasuke.

Unfortunately it seemed that they had misjudged the strength of one of the anchors and, in a sickening rush of a fall, Sasuke was upside down and underneath the freezing, torrential waters. His head had slammed against a rock and lights were fading in and out of his vision. Sub zero water flooded his lung, his airways constricted, his body couldn't move- and then- right as he was about to black out- a rough hand grabbed him and _hauled_.

Sasuke wasn't half in his own mind but- through the blur that was his eyesight-he saw messy brown hair, smeared red war paint stained cheeks and frantic brown eyes. Kiba- who had been scared to death of crossing the bridge- had dived into bottomless water to save him. Sasuke closed his eyes and slipped into unconsciousness- amazed.

He woke up to heat. Disoriented and confused Sasuke found himself looking up at stars through a canopy of tree leaves and brush shacked together to make a lean-to. He was warm, sinfully warm and Sasuke's heart stopped when he realized why. Naruto was as naked as he was and the Uzumaki's long, bronze limbs were fully draped across Sasuke's pale ones. Naruto was sharing his body heat- and Sasuke was aroused.

It was with shock and humiliation that Sasuke realized that he was hard- painfully hard- and his arousal was trapped between his thigh and Naruto's rippling stomach. Sasuke shut his eyes in despair. No. He couldn't be- his parents what would they have said if he'd-

"S'okay." A soft voice mumbled. "Really."

Sasuke turned his head to stare into liquid blue eyes shimmering like oil. The blond's hair fell over his forehead and the ends tickled Sasuke's chest. Naruto was smooth and hard. His skin seemed to run hotter than anything Sasuke had ever felt because the Uchiha was burning underneath him.

Something dark and primitive that he identified as lust snaked up his back and tightened his belly when Naruto pressed forward with his own hips and squeezed Sasuke's throbbing hardness even tighter between them. His breath was coming in short, hot pants now and Sasuke couldn't believe his sanity when the Uzumaki dipped his head and began pressing soft kisses into Sasuke's collarbone. A hot tongue ventured forth and a burning line was licked up his neck. His ear was bitten, his cheek kissed and then Naruto's mouth was on his.

Sasuke froze as his first kiss was taken by this amazing, utterly incomparable man. Naruto's tongue flickered softly over the seam of Sasuke's lips before his thumb came up and pressed softly on the Uchiha's chin. The pressure forced Sasuke's mouth to open and then a rough, mobile tongue was inside, softly exploring virgin territory.

Pleasure twisted Sasuke's mind to mush and before he knew it his head was tilted and he was- inexpertly- reciprocating. More pressure was exerted and the tongue was sweeping though his mouth now. Sasuke quested after it and suckled hard, proud when his action earned a moan from Naruto.

And then reality kicked in- and Sasuke shoved the blond off of him- terrified.

"Sasu-"

"No- Don't!" Sasuke snapped. Not now, he couldn't deal with all these strange feelings now. Not now- not ever.

They made it to the interior base without Sasuke so much as looking at Naruto. Kiba and Shikamaru had sensed that something had imploded between the two and were mercifully silent.

As Sasuke handed over the Heaven Scroll to Ibiki he was rewarded with a thick stack of mission parameters and a grim smile.

"Congratulations, you made it. Your cell ships out tomorrow. Get ready for hell boys, Italy is waiting for you."

* * *

"It's October." Kiba groused, his shaggy head thrown back against the mast and dripping sweat like a stuck pig. His heavy fur overcoat was soaked through but he wouldn't remove it since Akamaru was inside.

"Yeah." Shikamaru grated from his meager hiding place under a ratty winter cap. The Saharan heat reflecting off the glassy blue of the Mediterranean Sea and bouncing back to the ships was frying the soldiers alive. "You've said that every ten minutes since we've entered this god forsaken half of the world."

"It's fucking October man!" Kiba groused, peeling himself off the wall with a sickening squelch of sweat. "Italy has no fucking right being this hot in October."

"Aww come on dog-breath! It's ITALY! Think about Venice, and the Pizza tower…and…and the lourve!"

Sasuke finally looked up from the rusty spot on the deck that he'd been staring at since the units were made to assemble on deck and wait for disembarking orders. That was four fucking hours ago and his teammates were making him start to consider murder.

"You should be considering the Germans who're waiting to slit your throat instead baka." Sasuke groused, annoyed. Christ, the way Naruto acted you'd think they were on a pleasure cruise- not at fucking war. The blond's large blue eyes narrowed and his mouth pursed into a ridiculous looking pout. Sasuke couldn't resist hurting him again. "And the lourve is in France you dumbfuck."

Kiba choked out that harsh, grating laugh of his and flopped backwards, managing to land on Shikamaru's face, and earning himself a fist to the gut.

"Christ Shika, you didn' haffa hit that ha-"

Mercifully the orders to disembark came then and the quartet trudged, hot and miserable, down the iron gangplank and towards the waiting vehicles. The trip into Rome was uneventful. The allies had already had this city under their possession since about September but from the way Kiba's head was whipping around and how close his hand was to the gun at his side you'd think bombs were being rained down like hail.

"Christ, would you stop that." Sasuke hissed, finally losing his patience. Kiba had stilled immediately like a scolded puppy while the real puppy buried inside his clothes retreated his nose that he'd extended to sniff the new environment.

"Sorry Bossman." Kiba returned sheepishly. Naruto cackled from his place on the other end of the truck. The Hawaiian bastard was so big his long legs took up a quarter of the space in the truck bed. "Whipped bastard." The blond grinned.

"Says you, ya' pussy."

The banter continued but Sasuke tuned it out. His focus was better applied elsewhere and for the rest of the drive back to camp Sasuke just observed. He took in everything, from the old red stone architecture to the new holes left in them by bullets. He watched the hostile faces staring at them from shop windows and on the sidewalks and saw the way mothers forcefully yanked their children into their sides, bending down to whisper into small ears about the strangers parading through their homeland.

By the time they got to camp Sasuke felt like a rapist.

"It's only when you get here that you realize that there are people here too." Shikamaru muttered-to his boots mostly- when they were pitching tents later that night. Sasuke sighed and tipped his head back towards the black sky. The stars were all wrong on this side of the world.

Rhythmic clanging dragged his attention over to where Naruto stood, shirtless, tan skin smeared with dirt, eyes fierce and muscles pumping as he drove a tent peg into the soil. God he wanted-

"Don't think about it too much Uchiha." Shikamaru muttered as he shucked his own shirt and moved to help the Islander. "San Fairy Ann and all that shit. It's them or us. It ain't much to philosophize over."

Sasuke closed his eyes.

"When I was younger my Mom would tell me stories about Ninja." The campfire was silent and Sasuke had no fucking clue why he'd just opened his mouth. Multiple eyes glanced up at him but the Uchiha was too busy trying to figure his own thoughts out. The moment was too long and a shuffle alerted him to Naruto's movement. Sasuke stared at the skin that shone blue bronze in the gasoline fire.

"Oh yeah?" The blond questioned, softly prodding.

Sasuke turned away and grabbed a stick which he used to jab at the embers. "Yeah. The stories were about as tall as you could make them too. Villages hidden in the elements, men who could breathe fire and summon beasts from nowhere. I used to listen for hours."

"My Ma used to tell me them stories too." Kiba gruffed, eyebrows furrowed and gaze looking off into the past. "She used to say the Inuzuka clan trained ninja dogs. I dunno if she was talking truth or not, but you don't question my Ma- you'll end up with one less limb."

Naruto sighed. "I dunno shit 'bout Japan. Born and raised in Hawaii didn't make for no cool stories 'bout samurai and all that shit. Hey Sasuke, what's Japan like."

"I don't remember." Sasuke lied.

A shuffle from the other side of the fire alerted them to the presence of another team sharing the heat and listening to the conversation.

"Right now, it's typhoon season there."

Sasuke looked up and saw a soldier that he knew he should recognize but couldn't.

"Kankuro? You're Japanese?" Naruto asked.

The young man grinned. "What, the name doesn't tip you off? Yeah. Me and my sibs Gaara and Temari are from Tottori Prefecture. That place is a shitload of sand man, almost like a desert, but it was beside the sea so when typhoons came the sandstorms would be enormous." Kankuro smiled and his head lolled to one side to rest on his fist.

"I miss there sometimes. We had Torii gates _everywhere_ in Tottori. The old priests used to say that a sand spirit named Shukaku had made its home there during the same Ninja years you were talking about Uchiha. There was this really old-"

"Well if you miss it so much why don't you go back, _traitor_?"

Silence reigned around the small gathering. Sasuke didn't even look up. "You're not wanted here Suigetsu. Leave."

"_You're not wanted here Suigetsu_." The nasal voice mocked. The niisei was standing at the edge of the firelight, flanked by his band of miscreants that called themselves 'the Root.' "Who died and made you emperor Uchiha? All you do is sit around and give orders like some old-"

"Ya know." Naruto said casually as he stood up, unfolding the massive structure that was his body. "I'm pretty sure Robards is missing having his dick sucked you little nancy boy. Why don't you run along now?"

Suigetsu's blue eyes flashed in the firelight. "You picking a fight you damn kotonk? Cause there's five of us and only one of you."

Naruto rolled his shoulders. "So get some more men and _maybe_ it'll be a fair fight. Get the fuck outa my face shrimp. You ain't nothing but a spineless, weak gutter rat with no balls and no identity. In Hawaii, we throw people like you into volcanoes and let the Kupau deal with you."

Needless to say Suigetsu left- fast.

"Dude," Kiba flailed eyes comically wide, "Do you guys seriously throw people into volcanoes?"

"Fuck no retard." Naruto snorted as he flopped back down unto the ground. "Well… not anymore at least. They only used to do that to pretty people like Fearless here." Naruto slapped Sasuke's thigh and the Uchiha's eyes twitched.

"We should sleep." Sasuke muttered. "We're pushing North tomorrow and it's going to be hard."

One by one Sasuke watched his men drift off into tents. In the end only Naruto remained. "That means you too moron. I'm taking first watch."

Naruto only turned unreadable eyes upon him. "I meant it you know. You are pretty."

Sasuke gritted his teeth. "You shouldn't say that where these people can hear you."

Naruto smiled sadly. "You haven't looked at me properly since the day I kissed you."

"It's not allowed" Sasuke grated, knuckles tight.

"What? What's not allowed Sasuke? Following your own desires? Deep in your heart you _know_ you want me back. Just because someone says something is wrong doesn't mean it is. This whole fucking war is proof of that Sasuke."

Desire flickered in the Uchiha's belly, hot and desperate. Naruto's husky voice was warming trails of fire down his spine and around his heart. God he wanted the blond. Sasuke remembered the press of too-hot skin against his own, the soft huff of warm breath on his ear the night the Uzumaki had shared body heat with him to stay his heart from freezing.

"Sasuke." Naruto whispered and the Uchiha had no choice but to turn and regard the one human he had ever desired in his life. His blue eyes were burning like northern lights and his lips were inches away. Closer, so much closer they edged, until a mere whisper separated them. Sasuke's breath came in short gasps and jerky pants; his air stolen by sheer want.

"I can't." he grated out again, discipline and desire waging their own war in his soul.

Naruto smiled sadly. "Okay."

* * *

The journey north was tedious, the long drear of the days broken only by the mealtimes and the cooks yell: "Anymore for anymore?"

Like a personal guard Naruto hiked behind Sasuke at all times, his considerable bulk casting a shadow and a comforting scent over the Uchiha. Nights were spent together listening to Kiba regale them with stories of his family's farm or hearing old Naruto recount Hawaiian legends about fiery volcano goddesses and shark-men who lived in the depths of the oceans. Shikamaru was a silent but comforting presence to Sasuke's mind, always there to deliver a soft opinion or call the other two hyperactive members of their team to heel.

The hard brick and brush under their feet caused strained ankles and twisted limbs. When one man fell another picked him up; where one faltered the other grew strong. Bonds thicker than iron were forged amongst them and Sasuke allowed his soul to rest easy in the knowledge that these men would risk their lives for him without question, just as he would for any of them.

At night, in their own tent, the blond would sometimes talk for hours about everything and nothing in particular and Sasuke allowed it. The deep husk of Naruto's voice was a comfort he allowed himself since he couldn't have the boy's body. And if, on those few nights when storms howled monstrously outside their meager covering, Naruto's body would sometimes press hard against Sasuke's shivering own and solid arms would encircle his tight waist then Sasuke would bury his head in his arms and tell himself it was a dream.

It became sad how desperately he looked forward to those nights in his tent. It must have shown in his eyes too because the hot press of bodies became more regular until Sasuke couldn't fall asleep without it. The kisses came like dreams, light and airy on the back of his neck, dropping on his skin in between tales of mountain tops and deep blue waves.

The days were long and the nights afforded no sleep. Sasuke's body rebelled and when he found himself exhausted, ill and unable to move a gruff hand would always shoulder his pack for him and a quiet friend would brace his back until he could walk again.

Naruto's pursuit was relentless. There were nights when the fire of the blond's mouth burned Sasuke so bad that he was panting and whimpering by dawn. Nights when a hard body pressed him down into the dark earth and lips seared his neck, sucking bright marks and new tender places into existence. The night the blond's mouth actually suckled-hot and unforgiving- on his nipples, Sasuke's painful hardness erupted and he lost himself into his fatigues, pleasure resounding through him like a drum beat.

He slept on those nights, deeply and soundly, while the too hot body above him whispered soft words that were never returned.

And then, as suddenly as all other things in Sasuke's life, reality veered left.

Three days before reaching the border, they were attacked.

"Fuck!" Kiba screamed, the shockwave from a German bomb sending him flying into a tree. Sasuke looked up and wiped the blood from his face.

"Naruto." He commanded.

"On it." The blond replied immediately, jogging back to their last man and hauling him around the waist. "Come on mutt-face. We ain't leaving you out here in this god forsaken place."

The hoist made Kiba scream again and that set Akamaru off. Sasuke's ears were ringing with the dying yells of men around him. It had all happened like something from a nightmare- the frantic scream about enemy planes overhead, the mad scramble for cover and then the explosions- and the death.

A bullet barrage had sliced open that Tottori soldier- Kankuro- where he stood not two feet from Sasuke. Frantically men were firing into the dark sky, fear and despair warring with desperate hope on their faces as the scream of bombs and swooping jets seemed to recede.

Sasuke knew better. This was a distraction and he wasn't going to let his men- none of them- die.

"Head for the watershed!" Sasuke screamed "It's a trick!"

Only Kiba, Naruto and Shika heeded him. Suigetsu and his team, mere feet ahead, turned to sneer before heading off to take shelter in the heart of the deserted town. Sasuke said not a word when the old buildings erupted into flames and shrapnel seconds later. His team had turned and sought the shelter of the trees. Other men from the regiment had followed their lead and now there was a motley band of survivors crawling through the thick underbrush and muck of an Italian forest.

In the evening when the overhead buzz of planes had died Sasuke stood to survey that which was left of the regiment. Robards he found lying in the arms of the in camp doctor, Iruka, suffering from gunshot wounds and infection.

"He'll be dead by dawn." Shikamaru observed quietly from the shadows that he always seemed to inhabit.

Sasuke's eyes met every single soldier who now stood with him. Nineteen of them. Nineteen left from over sixty. Christ.

The answer came to him in a sad realization. "We need to split up."

"WHAT?" Screamed a towheaded youth with large eyes. "We can't! They'll pick us off for sure! I can't believe-"

"Shaddup kid." Kiba groaned from his pallet of leaves. "Listen ta yer elders."

"The British allies are in place. We know they are. What we need is a team to hold the rest of this base together and a cell to locate the help and bring them back here. We're too many anyway- there is no way in hell nineteen people will be able to sneak across an enemy line."

"He's right." Someone else said softly.

Sasuke rolled his shoulders. "We need the quickest and the uninjured to go. I'm staying here to oversee the defense. My man is down- I'm not leaving him."

Cicada's buzzed like chainsaws in the darkness around them and from the gloom a voice came.

"I'll go."

"Me too." Came another.

In the end, five men- Hayate, Raidou, Mizuki, Konohamaru and Udon- slipped off into the darkness towards either aid or their death. For those that remained Sasuke set about creating a strategy. Along a line across the watershed Sasuke placed three and four man teams to man strategic locations. His group would be taking the one closest inland to where the wounded were. Nobody questioned his orders.

And so it went. They had managed to find an old shepherd's cottage in the lee of a hillside and they rested Kiba there. The dog lover's foul mood only got worse during the long hours that followed but none of them could blame him. It was Shikamaru who found food for them amongst the branches and brambles of the unknown trees and Naruto who stood double watch when Sasuke and Shikamaru were exhausted into nothing.

In such a bleak and oppressive atmosphere the true bones of a man come to light. They learned more about each other in those hours than ever before. Sasuke's heart tore when he heard about the girlfriend Kiba had waiting back home and his eyes burned when Shikamaru broke down into tears out of despair of ever seeing his home again. Every man gave some of his own food to Akamaru and then shrugged it off humbly when Kiba thanked them through a hoarse voice.

In the evening when the scream of bombs was particularly menacing and when Naruto pulled Sasuke's aching, tense body between his legs and pressed him back into his chest, neither of their companions so much as batted an eye.

"If you're waiting for me to judge you Uchiha then you're gonna be waiting a long time." A hollow eyed and lank haired Shikamaru remarked quietly.

"Just don't fuck in fronta me and we're coo'" Kiba had yawned. "Dun wanna see that pale Uchiha ass, no siree."

That night Naruto pulled Sasuke outside under the strange stars and kissed the Uchiha senseless.

"See?"

"Hn." Sasuke snorted, then pulled the blonds head back down.

It was five days later that they spotted the advancing line of Axis forces through an old pair of binoculars that Naruto had stashed away in god knows where of his already too full pack. God only knew if the five that were sent to get help had managed to do so but, in that clear moment on the morning of November 17th, Uchiha Sasuke realized that he and his brothers were going to die.

"We have about thirty hours." He said softly. "More if the other teams manage to sabotage their line."

For a long moment there was silence and then Kiba turned his ashen, dirty face from the wall.

"Then let them come. I'm dying with a gun in one hand and ma' pride in the other."

Sasuke shook his head softly. "We could still get you out of here Kiba. Hinata-"

"-will understand. I ain't runnin' like some de-balled pussy cat and leavin ma men behind! Ma never raised no cowards, that's fer damn sure."

That night Sasuke watched numbly as Naruto went from first Shikamaru then to Kiba and spoke with them quietly. He had no idea what his blond was up to but when the Nara rose unsteadily to his feet, flashed them both a grin and helped Kiba limp outside a shocked Sasuke blinked up at Naruto.

"Kiba's injured."

Naruto's lips were soft against his cheek. "But he understands."

No words came forth after that.

Slowly, so very slowly the blond stripped Sasuke of every torn, ragged piece of covering he had on, laid the young soldier unto his back and proceeded to worship him with his mouth.

The warrior had never felt anything like it before and knew he would never feel it again. Lips, teeth and tongue worked wet lines down his chest, spent veritable eternities sucking at his collarbones and biting teeth marks into the slender column of Sasuke's neck.

Pleasure, thick and hot, overshadowed his mind. The desperation in Sasuke's gut woke up and roared. His hands, bandaged and gun-battered as they were, clutched at hard muscle and too hot skin. Sasuke knew nothing about sex. His parents were proper Japanese and 'The Talk' that he had overheard American children moan about had never occurred within his home.

It didn't matter though. Sasuke was so fearfully, insanely hard and Naruto didn't seem to care that his hands fumbled when he tugged off the blond's flak jacket or that his nails dug too deep when he gripped tan skin. Sasuke's mouth latched fiercely unto a brown nipple and sucked the sweat and scent of the man above him into his mouth.

Heat swelled up though his chest when Naruto's husky moan rippled across his skin.

"God Sasuke- fuck." The Hawaiian swore tightly. Tan hands reached down and grabbed hold of Sasuke's knees, forcing them apart and clutching tightly when the owner settled himself full unto Sasuke. Naruto was heavy and his compact mass forced their throbbing erections together through two sets of rough fabric.

Sasuke hissed and threw his head back, his pelvis rocketing up into the heat and pressure. It felt so fucking good; hot and hard and throbbing against him as it was. Together they moved pressing and rolling their bodies into one writhing, seething mass of need. Hot breaths brushed each other's faces and Sasuke near whimpered in the back of his throat when Naruto's hand, large and strong cupped, that throbbing place between his legs.

Slowly the fingers kneaded him through his pants and colours swam behind Sasuke's eyelids like a psychedelic inferno.

"N-Naruto, please…please!"

The Uchiha was unable to account for how he became naked in the next few minutes but his addled mind couldn't care. Rough dirt and old board pressed into his skin from beneath the thin padding of their clothes but the abrasion provided a sweet contrast to the hot slide of skin upon skin above him. Naruto levered his body up and ripped his own torn shirt from his torso. The moonlight glimmering in from the broken slat window danced off golden skin like water droplets.

Sasuke swallowed suddenly desperate for a taste but the blond would not allow it. The islander's mouth proceeded to attack ever inch of Sasuke's belly and thighs, biting, pulling and suckling on virgin skin until Sasuke cried out for reprieve. It was surreal, laying there in a dim shack on the other half of the world, under the aroused body of a man almost twice his size. For all his pride Sasuke couldn't find shame in the way his legs were spread wantonly wide, or the obscene fashion in which his hard cock drained hot fluid unto his belly.

When Naruto's mouth fastened unto his most sensitive flesh Sasuke couldn't find it within himself to not scream. It was torture. His insides were being gripped and twisted by pleasure. The skin on his purpled cock seemed to be on fire- the hot undulations of mouth and tongue seeming to strip his sensitive flesh right from his bones.

No words could describe what it felt like to be held inside a lover's mouth for the first time and Sasuke didn't even try to think as the blond head that he was grasping- wait, when did that happen- began to bob and suck hard on his pulsing cock. Pleasure was bleeding down into his toes and causing his belly and throat to lock up tight. His arms trembled and his mind swam as the sweet fire raced higher and higher. His penis throbbed and begged for release and the pressure swelling his veins made Sasuke half mad with a fierce desire to explode.

"N-Na- Naru-" his voice wasn't cooperating either and Sasuke lay, half frustrated to tears, wondering how he was going to warn his blond that he was about to come when he couldn't speak.

It didn't matter because when his body jackknifed and released Naruto held him down hard and swallowed- fucking swallowed- all of the boiling, sticky release that the Uchiha knew was erupting from him. Orgasm was an experience of supernatural shapes and wild colours. Cold shivers were racing down his spine and tremors wracked and shook his body.

Christ.

"Oh, god." Sasuke gasped in a huge gulp of air, desperately praying to restart his lungs.

"No. Just me." Naruto's hands grabbed the back of Sasuke's thighs and forced them upwards until the brunet was bent double and his most intimate place exposed. "Only me. Always."

And then Naruto's mouth did the most sinfully decadent thing Sasuke had ever experienced. The tongue probing and swirling at his tightly clenched hole felt like a bolt of lightning burning him alive. Around and inward it stabbed, licking wetly at a place Sasuke couldn't conceive of laying his own mouth.

"No! Naruto! You can't-!" Sasuke protested through his reawakened arousal. Not there. Naruto couldn't lick there! It was-

Naruto eased the pressure and pressed his lips into Sasuke's stomach. Blue eyes glinted up at the Uchiha from underneath a curtain of dirty blond hair.

"You're perfect to me Sasuke. There ain't no part of you that I won't touch. Now relax Keiki- open for me."

The resolve in Sasuke's spine melted and he flopped back onto the floor, dizzy with want. If he allowed his mind to think about it then he would realize that in less than ten hours he would most likely be dead and never be allowed to feel this again. If he had allowed himself to think he would scream and rage at the injustices in the world and the price he had to pay for a fight that wasn't his own. But he didn't allow himself to think about it- instead he forced his body to feel.

Only feel the hard hands massaging and kneading his ass- only hear the husky words of desire whispered into his ear, only see blond hair and faerie blue eyes- only Naruto- Always Naruto.

How long into the night the caresses continued Sasuke couldn't tell. He didn't know a minute from an hour and all his senses were blending together as Naruto made love to him. He knew nothing but the hot press of a body into his own, the feel of thick coarse hair under his fingers, the taste of the blonds tongue as it searched desperately through his mouth. Feeling brave Sasuke reached down, smoothing his palm over rippling abs and lower to softly grasp the blond's throbbing dick.

"Fuck Sasuke." Naruto grunted again, his head slamming into the brunet's shoulder as Sasuke squeezed and stroked the burning wet erection. Naruto was so full and heavy in his palm that the Uchiha couldn't help but shudder. Hot, rigid veins pulsed in the thick shaft causing the large erection to throb like a heartbeat. Burning fluid leaked from the tip coated his slender hand in slick pre-release and Sasuke gave in to his basest urge to taste it. Sinking his slick fingers into his mouth Sasuke sucked hard on the wet salt, pulling Naruto's essence into his body.

"Enough." Naruto grated out, eyes wild. Sasuke's hands were suddenly pinned above his head by one large palm. The other of Naruto's hands-

"_Ah_!"

-was begging entry into his body. It was slow and dry- they had no lubrication but spit and patience- but eventually calloused fingers were knuckles deep inside a tight, unforgiving passage. Being fingered was both a desperate answer to the churning lust in Sasuke's gut and a cruel hint of what was to come.

"…Soon. So soon S'uke. I'll be inside you- just a little more baby, please-"

Sasuke couldn't comprehend his lover's words but the low needy tone they were whispered in managed to seal off the air from entering Sasuke's lungs.

"Now!" he gasped. "Right now!"

The teasing fullness disappeared, Naruto's mouth was back on his, Sasuke's body was bent in half and then- right then when the world felt stretched at red bursting point- Naruto's rigid cock was deep inside him.

Sasuke screamed.

"-if you can't. Love you, you know I love you. Hold on baby, please. Hold unto me." Mindlessly Sasuke grabbed at Naruto's skin, sinking his trembling fingers into tan flesh and blond hair. The pain was murderous- a searing hot rip through his belly, a poisoned knife to his insides- but- at the same time…the tight stretch and deep seat blew Sasuke's mind to shrapnel.

Naruto's hands clutched him close, his mouth was permanently attached to Sasuke's ear whispering choked words of love and comfort and utter, _utter_ desperation.

"Move!" the Uchiha groaned into a corded neck and so Naruto moved, long and deep, slowly working his need into the tight grip of Sasuke's body. Over and over and _over_ he sank, balls deep into the most perfect reception in the world. Sasuke couldn't comprehend what was happening to him. His body was hot, sweaty, bent double and reamed open by blistering lust and needy love. His mind was floating away someplace in the third heaven.

Words penetrated the thick fog of his mind as Naruto fucked him. Hot, sweet impossible words of Naruto taking him back to Hawaii, of making love on the beach, of taking him from behind while the sun set and cast their bodies into flame. On each deep, angled thrust the thick penis inside Sasuke brushed something miraculous, something which caused his body to lock up and the world to spin off its axis. Pleasure the likes of which not meant for mere mortals tore up Sasuke's insides like lava.

Naruto pulled out and Sasuke thrashed wordlessly in despair. He was on his knees now and –yes, god _yes_- Naruto was sinking back inside him and his hands were clutching at Sasuke's shaking shoulders. It was deeper this way, so much deeper, and the flared head of the blond's burning cock was breaching depths inside Sasuke's gut that the Uchiha never knew existed.

"Harder, please, _harder_ Naruto. Can't- I need-"

Again he was flipped, his wet limbs bent and contorted to his masters liking and – oh- he was riding him now- his trembling body sitting upright and speared deep by the throbbing column of flesh. With one particularly hard stab to his pleasure centre Sasuke's eyes flew open and locked, wide and wild, unto Naruto's.

Naruto- was crying.

His fierce blue eyes were wet with tears and his lips were pressed into a thin line as his hips slammed harder and harder upwards to meet Sasuke roiling, riding body. And in that one moment of connection Sasuke knew and understood.

Pain seared his soul when he realized that this would be the last time he would ever have this. Sasuke swallowed around the steel in his throat and pressed his forehead to Naruto's determined to sink his soul into the blond's. It wasn't fair- Christ it wasn't _fair_. So many hardships, so much pain and coldness and loneliness he had suffered through- only to meet the other half of his soul on a battlefield that neither would walk away from. The aching hurt was tearing at Sasuke's gut and he felt like screaming. The pleasure Naruto was wreaking on his over sensitized body made the pain so much worse but so much better and acute. Hands grabbed each other tugging and pulling hard enough to leave bruises but not hard enough to forge their bodies into one.

"Sa- Sasuke' baby- I-"

"Don't!" Sasuke gasped out, flashing his head in both denial and in an attempt to flip sodden locks out of his eyes. "Please- don't!"

Pleasure was clawing up the raven's gut now and Naruto slammed him back into the floor, hiked the Uchiha's knees up unto his own broad shoulders and began to slam mercilessly inside. It was a race to the finish and Sasuke was trembling as he felt his aching rim repeat that delicious stretch and burn as Naruto drove inside harder and harder and-

"Remember." Naruto was gasping into Sasuke's mouth as they kissed. "Remember. You _have_ to remember- can't forget. Don't ever forget-"

Sasuke's eyes screwed shut, his mind desperate to block the pain.

"Look at me!" Naruto growled. "Remember damnit. Burn- me- into- your- soul- and-_remember_!"

Every word was punctuated by a piercing thrust to that tender magic spot inside him and, with the force of an atom bomb, Uchiha Sasuke erupted, eyes open and staring into blue depths.

Drowning- drowning- drowning in love and pain and ecstasy, drowning in blue eyes, drowning in the volcanic flood of his lover's release which shot into the core of his being and bathed his sore inner walls in hot silk. Uchiha Sasuke's eyes opened and his mind took notice even as orgasm seized his muscles and backbreaking tremors shook his bones… And when the body above his lost its strength and fell, boneless, unto his own the young avenger wrapped his legs, arms and soul around his Naruto and seared the moment into his memory. Always, Naruto- always would he remember.

* * *

They crouched under a line of sycamore trees waiting for fate.

Loaded and armed with all the armaments that they had managed to scavenge together the four warriors- all that was left of their regiment- hunkered down in muck and brambles, eyes trained dead ahead and hearts steeled against the inevitable. A party of Axis soldiers was slowly cutting a swathe up the incline towards them and it was only a matter of minutes now.

Earlier that evening Sasuke had awoken to Naruto's warm body over his and Shikamaru's kind eyes as his friend softly informed him that all the time he and his lover could be afforded had just run out. No matter how much the Uchiha wanted to rage and scream it would have been useless. Silently he had dressed and Sasuke knew that Naruto's blue eyes were flint hard as they observed the Uchiha's retreat into himself.

Dressed and strapped in the trappings of his station Sasuke had turned to walk outside when Naruto's body had stopped him. A hard kissed was pressed on his unresponsive lips and the blond had gripped his head tight.

"Please, _please_ remember."

Sasuke only allowed his fingers to brush down the side of Naruto's nose and a small 'Hn, dobe..," to escape his lips before he slipped outside into the coming battle.

Now all four of them were there- five if you counted a still and wary Akamaru- crouched in grey-black dirt and ready. Sasuke surveyed the three men who meant more to him than anything else in the world. Kiba, the man who had braved his own fear of drowning to snatch him out of a deep river, was now leaning against a gnarled old tree, his broken ribs bandages to the best of his ability, his helmet jabbed on lopsidedly and his brown eyes fierce. Shikamaru, his first friend, advisor, and confidant had his head bent, hair loose and his body curled in his customary meditation pose. He was perched on the balls of his feet beside Naruto. And Naruto- oh dear god his Naruto- so tall and strong, tan skin mottled green-grey under the tree cover, blue eyes steely and blond hair nearly black with dirt and muck. Naruto who had dragged him out of his mental blackness, Naruto who had given Sasuke his own body heat to save him from freezing- Naruto who had made love to him so thoroughly that Sasuke could still feel the deep hollow in his body where his soul mate should be.

…A yell and a bullet whizzed through the trees.

A war cry and a frenetic series of frantic barking.

…His mother- Sasuke remembered his mother- his father's hard smile…his brother's tight lipped approval…

A curse as they were flung into the ground. A barrage of shots that sent flocks of carrion birds screaming into the air. A fierce yell as Naruto charged the enemy.

…A pained choke as Shikamaru grabbed his throat where the bullet had sliced though….a dull thud as Akamaru fell to the ground his muzzle bloody.

...His friends… his cell….his teammates…his chosen family...his brothers….his lover…..

A hard back slammed against his own and Sasuke barely registered the labored breathing and the frantic curses. Mechanically he fought, shooting, punching; screaming in fierce rage, but the world was silent around him, seeming to have slowed down to blurred pictures and a series of after images.

Back to back he pressed against the soldier who he knew was going to stand with him to the bitter end-

….A curse and a splash of blood as a helmet- once perched lopsided on a shaggy head- went flying in the direction opposite of its body…..

…A bang, a crash of tearing trees- a flash of blue eyes and… a scream of 'Remember!"-

…A fierce, piercing cold that ran through his body- a protruding handle of a long knife sticking out from his gut-

Silence.

-And then reality slammed back in full surround sound. The pain was insane, tearing, ripping, ricocheting through his bones and his body. Hot still flashes of colour and memory surrounded him- _an old boat, a wooden home, a prison town. _Sasuke's knees slammed into the ground, his head bent back towards the sky and pain ripped his sanity apart. He couldn't think, couldn't breathe, couldn't move-

Darkness grabbed hold of his head; he was suffocating, tangled in cords like titanium and unable to get up. Tree roots- wait…tree roots…were those roots?- grabbed hold of him and he couldn't move, dirt clogged his airways-

Move!

He _couldn't_ move-

He had to! He had to- Naruto- he had to get up- move! _Move damnit!_ Naruto- he had to get up- Now, right now, RIGHT FUCKING _NOW_- RIGHT-

-NOW!

-Sasuke gasped in a lungful of steel air and sat bolt upright in bed, his legs already moving without communication to his conscious mind. He was out from under the sheets propelled by the bristling fear and screaming pain, his legs buckling unsteadily under him. Eyes open but sightless his vision swam between hot, murky Italian jungle and the smooth lines of his barrack dorm. His hands were tight, trembling and clutching his lower belly; his body struggling with the rigor mortis of crushing fear. If he looked down he knew he'd see the hot sick of his blood and entrails oozing, slippery and acidic, through his trembling fingers and-

He looked down.

His pale fingers were clean and clutching the death out of the dark silk pajamas.

….._WHAT_?

Impossible! There should be gore and blood and his own red life slipping away in torrents! The burn of the pierce was still tingling- fading but _there_ damnit!- below his navel right over… right over his birthmark….the slender dark line that neatly bisected his middle from navel to pelvis….this was…this was…

"Computer." He croaked out voice shredded and cut from screaming. "Lights, twenty five percent,"

Low dimming spread through the cabin and Sasuke blearily took in the clean military lines of his four man cell dorm. Konoha Military Academy appeared as it had ever been. Complete and flawless; the grey dawn seeping out of hiding from behind the Appalachians.

Unsteady legs nearly failed him as he stuttered onwards, painfully slamming his hips into a low bureau. Shit! The neurons in his mind were firing in all the wrong directions. Stumbling, he crashed through the door into the tiny kitchenette. He slammed the button on the sink and frigid water gushed out the sleek spigot. Remorselessly he stuck his whole head under the torrent.

The ice froze his neck and a fierce shivering erupted down his spine. Wet and dripping he yanked his head back with a gasp.

This was...this was insane.

The Uchiha stood, trembling and awake, in front of the cold Pl/Exo-glass windows. Sense returned to him in stutters and starts like an old twentieth century diesel car too long left unused.

He was cold but he couldn't feel it. Desperate for some form or semblance of order he forced his mind to remember.

That dream. That unbelievably painful, excruciatingly, perfectly detailed dream. A life—his life- from his barest years to a struggling, gasping death in a god forsaken jungle in a land he had never been before.

That shit was _no fucking dream! _

He stared sightless as his mind flickered through the memories. A lifetime, an eternity of pain and suspicion and holding his head down in the face of other's scorn. Bonds of iron, trust that surpassed pain, pleasure, power and understanding. A warm body pressed, guard like, at his back even as he himself guarded his protector. Strength, utter unmovable strength and love. His love- and a promise, seared upon his soul to _remember_-

"Sasuke?" A bleary vice asked.

There in the doorway, sloppily half dressed and rubbing sleep from his eyes with a large tan fist was:

"Naruto." He croaked out.

Something in his voice must have alerted the other because the blond was upright and wary immediately. Blue eyes shimmering with concern he stepped up to his barrack –mate.

"Teme- babe, you all right? You shot out of bed like you'd been bombed."

Bomb. _The plan. The explosion that ripped the regiment in half… screams, an empty town, the old shack on the hillside, torn up rocks and trees,_-

"Sasuke!" The voice jerked him out of his memories- dream?- visions- _whatever-_ to the concerned face inches from his own.

"Do you need to go to the infirmary?"

A beat. The scenes, seconds ago so vivid and clear were now murking over, like some benevolent god was quickly and resolutely drawing a screen, gauzy but absolute, between the pile of thoughts and his consciousness. He shook his head and struggled to grasp unto the fleeting ephemeral things as his heart calmed down.

Naruto mistook his head shaking as a denial for medical attention and opened his mouth to say something when a muted thump announced another presence in the small dorm kitchen.

"Nnngh. Troublesome. What's going on?"

Shikamaru looked like shit. His hair was out of the ponytail and his brown eyes were dulled over with sleep. He had a five o'clock shadow twelve hours early and he was only in his boxers. He looked nothing like—but he was- he-

"_Mostly Niisei here…don't let them know you're not second generation…got something to prove…call you Fearless…expect me to judge you…waiting a long time…"_

The words blurred and slurred like a distorted recording heard over long distances. Flashes of a sharp eyed stare in a too thin face-the _same_ but so fucking _different_- superimposed themselves over the sloppy mess of Shikamaru and were gone just as suddenly as though yanked away.

"I… don't know." He grated out. "Dream…nightmare. Fucking real as fuck."

Shika's eyebrows skyrocketed just like they had done that time during the war when- wait- fuck- _this was Shikamaru Nara_. His best friend since infancy when both toddlers had collided into a shoji set while at the mall with their respective parents. The King piece had gotten jammed up Shika's nose. They'd never been in a _war_!

Sasuke forced his mind into reality. This was his dorm room, with his roommates, one who had been an army brat all his life and the other who had gone to a school for young prodigies with him. They weren't-

"Jesus H Christ, wha' th' fuck people? W'as with th' fuckin' debriefing at the ass crack of fucking dawn!"

The fourth –and final- member of the four man cell stumbled- pissed off and showing it- into the now cramped room. Kiba was a sight- crusty eyes, foul breath, dead-animal hair and ratty drawers. His wild eyes were desperately trying to focus on something. Anything.

"Fearless Leader had a nightmare." Shikamaru supplied turning to Sasuke for clarification.

"Soldiers." He supplied, still trying to put his whirling mind in order. The memories- _dream_ damn it- images- were slipping away like torrent through his fingers.

"I dreamt of soldiers. Honest to fucking god, Winchester toting, crawling through muck, tear gas throwing soldiers. It was like…like…" The answer came to him "World war two."

Gaping, Kiba squawked. "Th' fuck you been smoking, man? The Second War was over three hundred years ago!"

Sasuke frowned. "I _know_ that fuckhead, you think I don't fucking _know_ that?

"Yeesh, don't bite my head off man!" Kiba held up his hands in defense.

Sasuke scrubbed at his dripping face and Shikamaru handed him a kitchen towel. His brown eyes were thoughtful.

"What do you remember?"

Sasuke made a face. "Everything…nothing….I remember a store and an apartment…a camp." He furrowed his brows, "I remember fighting, and Italy and…bush. I…" He sighed. "I don't know- its fading."

Shikamaru was staring at him with that unnerving gaze. With an I.Q. over 250 Sasuke knew that, in mere seconds, the Nara was coming up with, testing and discarding more ideas than most people had in a week combined.

"That's… odd. Why would you be dreaming about an old war?"

Naruto who- oddly enough had remained silent through the past few minutes- spoke up. "You were studying for that History of Armory test, maybe that's where it came from."

Shikamaru blinked. "Yeah, that's right. You must have fallen asleep while reading."

Sasuke struggled inwardly. He knew he'd been studying but the sights he'd seen- sights- now fuzzy and hazed over but still carrying a sense of importance of reality- were far more than a fabrication. But he wouldn't tell them that. It wouldn't do to have his sector doubt his sanity. His codename wasn't 'Fearless Leader' for nothing.

"Yeah" he acquiesced with a grunt. "I… guess you're right."

Shikamaru shrugged and scratched his belly. "Your PSI rating is way above normal Uchiha. Chances are that your overactive imagination just took the facts and ran with them. Don't worry; just proved you're human is all."

Kiba grunted. "Thank all fuck. Is too early fo' this shit." He stuck a hand down his boxers to scratch his balls and yawned widely. "I'm going back to sleep."

Shika grabbed the fabric of Kiba's ratty grey t-shirt that had probably once been white in another life. "We've got calisthenics in half an hour. You might as well stay up shit-for-breath."

"Man, fuck you man!" The dog lover whined but allowed the slimmer teen to drag him in the direction of the bathroom.

The door slammed in the middle of Shikamaru forcing Kiba to brush his teeth.

Sasuke turned back to the tall blond who was quietly observing the whole ordeal. With a disgruntled huff he realized that the memories of the dream were nothing flickers in his mind. He let them go- despite all his misgivings not to- and focused on the here and now.

His neck and arms were shivering from the cold and his skin was starting to get gooseflesh. He focused on the feel of tile under his feet and the soft light that flickered off the burnt gold of Naruto's hair. Most of all he focused on the deep ache in his lower extremities that reminded him of just where Naruto had been not ten hours earlier.

Said blond crossed over to Sasuke and wrapped the shorter form in hard arms. A kiss was pressed into his neck and Sasuke closed his eyes to focus on the solid comfort of reality.

"You okay?" Naruto asked softly.

Sasuke considered his options. Was he okay? Should he tell Naruto about the dull images of the messy, scruffy warrior who had fought at his side, lived as his brother and shared soul shaping experiences with? Could he explain the deep bond that he had felt to have in the dream? Could he-?

Blue eyes met black and with a jolt Sasuke recognized the fierce concern and loyalty there. They were the same. They- both of them though different- were the _same_.

He snorted at his own thickness. "Hn, dobe. I'm fine." And he was.

Naruto searched his eyes but accepted the statement with a nod and a single-minded faith in his leader that made even the Admirals marvel.

"Yeah, Ok. Come on- we've got to get ready for Cali. It's fucking Ibiki's rotation today. You just _know_ that sick asshole is gonna make us do some kamikaze, fifty mile, wilderness run shit."

Sasuke smirked. "Don't worry Force, I promise to not leave you too far behind."

Naruto squawked indignantly at the challenge. "Fuck you, Fearless! I'm totally kicking your ass this time! Believe it!"

Sasuke smirked in just the way that he knew would taunt Naruto into recklessness. "If you say so- your record doesn't though." Naruto snorted and turned to go get ready all the while muttering about bastard squad leaders and kicking said squad leader's ass.

At the doorway Sasuke called out. "Hey Dobe." Naruto stilled at the use of his intimate nickname. He turned to face Sasuke. "Yeah?" The Uchiha shifted himself to accommodate the wash of feeling that came over his being. The trust, the brotherhood, the anger, the passion, the completeness…the perfection.

"…Thank you." _For being there, for being at my side, for carrying me even when you were exhausted, for kicking sense into me, for taking my punches and always getting back up, for saving me from myself that one time, for dragging me back physically all those other times, for being my conscience, my sanity, my compliment, my contrast,…my friend…my lover…my brother…my everything…_

Naruto didn't ask. He didn't need to. He just nodded solemnly, then grinned. "You won't be thanking me when I stomp your lily white ass later!"

Sasuke snorted and watched him leave.

He turned to gaze back out through the Pl/Exo-glass at the receding fog. The day was dawning and he has things to do. He thought back to the snatches of memory of the dream and found almost nothing; just the faint warmth of past memories obscured by time.

Well; so be it. He hung the towel and turned from the sunrise; he had things to do.

The past should remain in the past after all.

"Hey TEME! You chicken out or what?"

"Stop being so hopeful moron." He snapped back fondly "The only way you'll win is if universal order goes ape shit!"

And, with a new day beginning, Sasuke turned into his future and closed the door behind him.

OWARI

Sooooo…odd fic huh. _ All serious and shit….

REVIEW DAMNIT!

**Timeline**:

1937- The Uchiha's flee Japan as the second Japan-Sino War starts (Sasuke is 10)

1939- Hitler and the Nazi Party invade Poland. Beginning of WWII

1941- Bombing of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii by Japanese Army.

1942- (_February_) The Uchihas are sent to Manzanar. (Sasuke is 15 by July)

1943- Sasuke becomes a 'man.' At 16

1944- Sasuke leaves to join the Army. He is 17

1944- (_October_) Sasuke and Team 7 are sent to fight in the last stand at Italy.

1945- End of the war. Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Sasuke dies in Italy.

**Vocab:**

1. Kotonk. Derogatory term for Hawaiian soldier. Meant to sound like an empty coconut.

2. San Fairy Ann- corruption of the French phrase, Ca ne fait rien. Meaning 'it doesn't matter'

A/N:

This fic is, quite easily, the weirdest I've ever written. _Ever_. No crack. That's a first for me. Even my _angsty _fics have crack- face melting crack. So, yeah. HAPPEY NARUSASU DAY! REVIEW DAMNIT!

Ja,

C.


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